USPTO Slams Suit Over Refusal To Grant AIA Reviews

By Ryan Davis

Law360, New York (December 20, 2013, 6:56 PM ET) -- The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office asked a Virginia federal court Friday to throw out a suit accusing it of exceeding its authority by denying a software company's petitions for inter partes review, calling the company's argument "absurd."

In its motion to dismiss, the USPTO argued that when Congress had created the inter partes review system in the America Invents Act, it had made clear that the patent office's decision on whether or not to institute a review are "final and nonappealable."